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Max Euwe vs Alexander Alekhine
"Alexander the Great" (game of the day Aug-03-2005)
Euwe - Alekhine World Championship Rematch (1937), Rotterdam NED, rd 7, Oct-19
Slav Defense: Czech Variation. Classical System (D18)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Aug-03-05  teme: Nice game. Very good play by Alekhine.
Aug-03-05  ajile: He had to be able to see 10 moves ahead to see that he would get the piece back with a won game. Amazing.
Aug-03-05  ughaibu: He sacrificed a piece on move 15 and got it back on move 33. I think it's unlikely he calculated the entire affair but was happy enough with the chances he'd have around move 21.
Aug-03-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: Alekhine had three pawns for the piece. That's an exchange, not a sacrifice, and the two towers on open files pretty much controlled the game. Notice that Euwe didn't resign at the first opportunity, but waited until he was about to be four pawns down. I like that.
Aug-03-05  SimSim314: Alekhine had three pawns for the piece, and forced the game to endgame - were this exchange is an advantage.
Aug-03-05  Knight13: <"Alexander the Great"> I'm gonna have to go back to ancient times to bring Alexander the Great Conquerer back!

Nice game.

Aug-03-05  kevin86: After the exchange,black gains yet another pawn and gains a third passed pawn. Time for the Dutchman to run for cover! The dike is gone and the waters are rising fast!
Aug-03-05  patzer2: Alekhine's 28...Re2! is a decisive deflection, setting up to remove the guard with 32...g5+, which regains the piece and leaves Black three pawns up for an easy endgame win.
Aug-03-05  patzer2: Faced with the prospect of a trapped Bishop, notice how Alekhine calmly develops with 19...Rfe8!, allowing Euwe to carry out his ill-conceived plan.

Unfortunately for Euwe, winning the piece is at the expense of giving up three pawns and allowing Alekhine the superior position. Maybe it's not "brilliant," but this positional sacrifice looks like a clever and instructive maneuver to me.

Aug-03-05  Calli: Game is spoiled by 28.Bb3?? 28.Ra3 is usually recommended in annotations. Alekhine says he would reply to Ra3 with 28...Ng4 but suspiciously gives no continuation. Probably means he didn't have much.
Aug-03-05  Boomie: As mentioned earlier, 28. ♖a3 offers a good chance at equality.

28. ♖a3 ♖d5 29. ♖g1 ♗d6 30. ♖b3 b6 31. ♖c3= (-0.18)/13)

Aug-03-05  patzer2: <Calli> Thanks for pointing out the equalizing possibility White missed with 28. Ra3! I enjoy your research and sharp insights, and this defensive resource is a really good one.

Perhaps for purists seeking a forced win with Alekhine's 19...Rfe8!, the possibility 28. Ra1! spoils or cooks the combination. However, for me, I see 19...Rfe8! as a genuine, versus a sham, sacrifice, which offers Black excellent winning chances with no worse than a draw if White finds the correct line.

Sometimes I enjoy games with genuine sacrifices more than those with forced winning continuations. They certainly require more skill and technique than forced wins, and, as such, offer a greater challenge in both over the board play and post game analysis.

Aug-05-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: <Calli: 28. Rd3 Rd5 29. Rg1> 29...Rh5+ 30. Kg2 Rg4+ 31. Kh1 Rxg1+ 32. Kxg1 Ng4. Black has aggressively posted pieces and good prospects of picking up another pawn.
Aug-06-05  Calli: <al wazir> My only point is that its still a game after Ra3. After 28.Bb3? Re2 its over. .
Sep-16-06  Kriegspiel: What's wrong with 19...Qxg4 20.Qxg4 Nxg4 21.fxg6 Ne3 22.gxh7 Kh8 followed by 23...Nxc2 ?

I have to run, but where does it leave the players?

Kriegspiel

Sep-17-06  Calli: Try 22.gxf7+ instead. If 22...Rxf7 23.Bxh7+ wins. Better is 22...Kh8 23.Bb3 Nxf1 24.Nxf1 with a small advantage for White.
Aug-23-07  kevin86: Euwe trapped Alekhine in a Noah's Ark type trap on the kingside. The trouble is that the bishop cost Euwe much time and three pawns for the effort.

Finally,Euwe had to resign because Alekhine regained his piece a would soon capture yet another pawn.

Jun-05-19  nummerzwei: 28.Bb3? is very similar to Viktor Korchnoi's error 18...Rfb8? in the last game of the 1981 World Championship (Karpov vs Korchnoi, 1981). It just lets Black occupy the second rank for no reason.

There was also mistake in Purdy's analysis of 30.Bxf6: After 30...gxf6 31.Bc4 Rxh2+ 32.Kg4 f5+ 33.Kg5 I paused:


click for larger view

White threatens 34.Nxh2 [In fact Black can permit this and force mate by 33...Kg7 34.Nxh2 f6+], otherwise Black would have ...Kg7 and ...Rh5#. So my first idea was 33...Rxf3 34.Rxf3 Kg7 35.Rxf5 (forced) Rh5+ 36.Kg4 Rxf5 37.Rf1 Rxf1 38.Bxf1 f5+ with an abundantly won endgame.

Instead, Purdy ties himself up in knots after 33...Rg2+ 34.Kf6 Re2??, overlooking the trivial 35.Bxf7+.

Oct-04-22  the british: :lik� i say....
::jyct get tha-donki to ...b6
ромолос
Oct-04-22  the british: i thought 17.b3! was better as well....
ромолос

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